THE weekly trek to the local supermarket has become a way of life for many – but not for one Dulais Valley housewife who has been spearheading her own “buy local” campaign.

For Linda Ware, of Main Road, Cilfrew, this Saturday, December 22, marks the end of a 12-week stint of living on locally-sourced produce.

In addition, she has forsaken foods packaged in plastic wrappings, relying instead on staple foods packaged in paper and glass from local traders. Any waste was burned in her mini incinerator or composted.

“It’s been brilliant,” said Ms Ware, as she showed off a range of hampers she created for friends and family as part of her campaign.

“I haven’t used the bin at all and I’m amazed what you can get that’s not in plastic.

Ms Ware explained she had sourced about 90 per cent of her weekly shop from traders in Neath market, with the remainder coming from the shop in Cilfrew and the local milkman.

But she said this approach was not without it’s problems.

“The sourcing was easy,” she said.

“But I’ve struggled to be able to carry all that food from the market. You’ve got to carry all those bags from one end of town to the other. Even if I could drive it would be just as bad.

“There’s no access to the market shops in Neath – the supermarkets have cornered the market.”

She suggested that if more people follow her example it will boost the fortunes of local traders in the market and allow greater freedom of choice.

She said: “If you help them then they can bring in more produce. Then you get fresher produce because they’re selling it faster. But it’s a social thing as well – they know you in the market.

“I think when you face people with the fact this is possible they shy away from it. Instead of solving the problems, they make big news out of them.

Ms Ware added that this was not the end of the line for her campaign.

“I’m going to use my blog and put together something like a cook book about the experience,” she said.

And she had words of encouragement for anyone looking to lose a few pounds in the new year.

“The supermarkets have made people lazy,” she said, “but I’ve had a terrific amount of exercise. It’s made me fitter and I’ve lost weight.”